Courtesy: CFL.

Ottawa Redblacks’ head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie appreciates quarterback Dru Brown allowing his team to have more 2026 salary cap room.

“Him restructuring the contract, that was great. We have to build a roster, so him being willing to do that is going to allow us to add more pieces to the puzzle,” Dinwiddie told AJ Jakubec on TSN 1200 radio in Ottawa.

The 45-year-old said Brown came into the nation’s capital for a few days, allowing the two men to get to know each other, study film, and prepare for training camp.

“We spent some time watching Ottawa’s film. I was trying to dissect some things he was good at and things that he liked from last year’s system,” Dinwiddie said.

“Then we dove into the Toronto stuff and went through that, gave him a crash course on what we do offensively. He’s a smart player, I thought he picked things up rather quickly than most quarterbacks.”

The 28-year-old passer dressed for 11 regular-season games in 2025 but made only nine starts while fighting through hip, neck, and knee problems. He posted a 2-7 win-loss record while completing 71.5 percent of his passes for 2,389 yards with 14 touchdowns versus 10 interceptions to rank eighth league-wide in passer rating.

Dinwiddie would like to add pieces around Brown to improve Ottawa’s league-worst 4-14 record from last year. He believes the Redblacks have dollars to compete to sign free agents who hit the communication window on Sunday, February 1 and when the market opens officially on Tuesday, February 10 at noon eastern time.

“We’re going to have some money to be able to spend on some guys, what we’re looking at as far as numbers. But you don’t know until February. We’re going through everybody, we’re grading everybody, but half that list could be gone in two weeks,” Dinwiddie said.

“We look to add some great players and great character people in the building that are going to help us find a way to win a Grey Cup. You never know what it’s going to look like, but I would say we’re looking to be aggressive.”

The Ottawa Redblacks finished fourth in the East Division standings in 2025 with a 4-14 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Dru Brown went 2-7 over nine starts at quarterback, throwing for 2,389 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Dustin Crum went 2-4 over six starts, throwing for 1,771 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions.

The Redblacks ranked sixth in net offence, fifth in net defence, and ninth with a turnover differential of minus-16. The club’s leading rusher was William Stanback with 698 yards, leading receiver was Justin Hardy with 1,019 yards, and leading tackler was Adarius Pickett with 84 tackles. Ottawa finished eighth in attendance with average crowds of 18,136, which was a 4.2 percent decrease from the previous year.